No one likes to think about things going wrong, but it is best to be prepared for the worst. Here, we are going to explore Windows 10 backup and restore options, revealing just what it is you need to back up, and how to go about doing it.

You many well be aware of various Windows 10 backup and restore approaches, but which is best? While it is true that you can take care of much of the backing up process yourself, in reality your life will be a great deal easier if you turn to a dedicated backup and recovery tool to help you out.

What we're talking about here is the process of backing up your entire computer, not just important files and folders. By opting to go all out in this way, you give yourself a quick and easy way to get your computer back up and running if something terrible should happen. it means that you can essentially take a snapshot of your computer which you can return to with relative ease – and without the need to speed hours reinstalling all of the software your need.

What Do You Need to Do for Windows 10 Backup and Restore?

Just what you need to back up really depends on how you use your computer, but there are various things to consider. There are, of course, your personal files, photos, videos, documents, and so on, but there are also this like the applications you have installed, the settings you have in place in both Windows 10 and your software, and any history records that the apps you use may generate. There is also the registry to consider, drivers, and much more.

Just starting to look at this list should make it apparent that undertaking a manual backup is going to be something of an arduous task – and this is precisely why the likes of EaseUS Todo Backup were developed!

There is a trial version of EaseUS Todo Backup available for you to take for a test drive.

Choose A Suitable Method to Backup and Restore Windows 10

The manual option

Your computer contains a huge number of files. Some of these you will have created yourself, some are part of Windows 10, and other will have been created by the programs you use. In many instances, backing up files can be as simple as copying them to another location, but this is not something that you can do for Windows' own files; many files are in use when your computer is switched on, and this will prevent you from making copies of them.

However, if you are determined to do things manually, there are still certain things that you will be able to backup with relative ease. Windows includes the System Restore feature which enables you to create a restore point that backs up the registry, key system files and the applications you've installed.

You can find System Restore by clicking the Start button and searching for "Create a restore point". You can then click Create and enter a name for your restore point. Should something go wrong in future – such as a problem with driver conflicts – you can roll back your computer to an earlier time by reverting it to a restore point.

Windows 10 retains the backup tool from Windows 7, but it is slightly hidden – this is because, although the tool still works, it is not officially supported by Microsoft. Open Settings and head to the Update & Security section. Click the Backup link to the left, and then click "Go to Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Now click "Create a system image to the left" and indicate where you would like to save your backups – you can choose a network drive, hard drive (local or removable) or recordable DVDs. There are no further option to consider; you just need to click the "Start backup" button and wait while your backup is created.

Windows 10 also includes the File History tool which can also be found in the Backup section of Update & Security in Settings. Click "Add a drive" and choose where you would like to save your backups. Make sure that the "Automatically back up my files" option is enabled, and click "More options". You can then use the drop down menus to choose how often files should be backed up, how long backups should be retained, and which folders should be included.

The automated option: EaseUS Todo Backup

As you can see, backing things up manually in Windows 10 is a bit of a convoluted process – and that's precisely why turning to EaseUS Todo Backup makes so much sense. In just a few clicks you can secure your entire system, backing up the full contents of its hard drive or hard drives.

There are three main versions of the PC backup and restoration program available: EaseUS Todo Backup Free Edition is available free of charge for home users, and all restrictions are lifted in EaseUS Todo Backup Home Edition with a free one-month trial available. There's also a version for Mac users to do data backup and protection.

Creating a full system backup is incredibly simple. Fire up the application, and click the System Backup button in the panel to the left – it is the second button down after the menu icon. The first thing you need to do is choose where the backup will be saved, and you can opt for an external hard drive, NAS drive or other networked device.

Click the Schedule link and you can now only configure settings that will ensure your backup is constantly kept up-to-date, but also choose between full, incremental and differential backups. There are more advanced setting available if you click the "Backup options" button, but this is not necessary. Instead you can just click Save and wait for the first backup to be created on a schedule, or start the process straight away by clicking Backup.

Or click "Browse to Recover" to select the system backup you created in advance.

Step 2. Choose one History version of the backup image, after confirming the contents, click the "Next" button.

And select the target location to restore your Windows.

Step 3. Then click "Proceed" to start backup recovery.

Wait for the process to complete, restart your computer and then you should be able to run Windows OS on your computer again.

In summary

While Windows 10 includes various tools and options that can be used to back up your computer, it is far from simple. It makes much more sense to use a program like EaseUS Todo Backup to take care of everything in one place, and to ensure that the backups you create are automatically kept up to date – after all, an out-of-date backup is not much better than having no backup at all.

"EaseUS Todo Backup Free is one of the most popular free data backup applications available. This software offers a myriad of features and is extremely user-friendly. It provides a full system backup, meaning you can back up your entire operating system." —TopTenReviews

"EaseUS ToDo Backup Home is a great backup program, well suited to the home and SMB space." —PCWorld

What is the difference between Clone and Backup? In what cases should I use Clone?

Clone will copy one disk to another or one partition to another (unallocated space is also supported). Usually, this option is used to upgrade the current disk by creating an identical copy. Backup will generate a .PBD image file containing the selected files or system that can be restored from the .PBD image if needed.

What is the difference between System Backup and Disk Backup?

System Backup will auto-select the system boot related partition(s) as the backup source to make sure the system image can be restored properly. Disk/Partition Backup will allow you to manually select a whole disk or speficy a certain partition as the backup source. You will get the same backup result as System Backup if you manually select the system and boot partitions with the Disk/Partition Backup option.

As a computer newbie, what features should I use to protect my computer?

You can use System Backup to back up the system and boot partitions, use Disk/Partition backup to back up the data partition and add plans to run an automatic backup. If you use the computer frequently or have software that may cause boot failure of the computer, we would suggest you back up the computer every 1 to 2 days. For other situations, you can backup the computer once a week. In addition, you can schedule File Backup to back up the files which are changed frequently.

What kind of storage service should I use to save my backup images?

EaseUS Todo Backup can save backup images to internal disks, external disks, network drives, or free cloud(Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive) and CD/DVD. It is suggested to save the images to the internal/external/network drives to save time as those kinds of disks have a better read-write speed. It is suggested NOT to save the image on the source disk, because once the disk is damaged, all the files on the disk will become unavailable and you will be unable to restore the image.

As a company network administrator, what features should I use to protect our internal computers?

It is recommended that you use the SQL Backup feature to back up your company's SQL server and Exchange Backup feature to back up the Exchange server. In addition, you can execute System Backup to back up the system and boot partitions on every computer and set a plan to execute the backup once a day or twice a week to ensure that the computer can be restored timely when it has boot issues. File Backup feature can be used to back up important user data. If there are a large quantity of computers, you can purchase EaseUS Backup Center to manage the backups on the client computers centrally.